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Amanda Aldercotte, PhD Acting Research Manager Equality Challenge Unit, London

Key results from the ASSET 2016 report: experiences of gender equality in STEMM academia and their intersections with ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability and age. Amanda Aldercotte, PhD Acting Research Manager Equality Challenge Unit, London. ASSET 2016 Background.

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Amanda Aldercotte, PhD Acting Research Manager Equality Challenge Unit, London

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  1. Key results from the ASSET 2016 report: experiences of gender equality in STEMM academia and their intersections with ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability and age Amanda Aldercotte, PhD Acting Research Manager Equality Challenge Unit, London

  2. ASSET 2016 Background First Athena Survey of Science, Engineering and Technology (ASSET) in 2003 Multiple iterations 2003, 2004, 2006, and 2010 Talented women working in STEMM can become invisible Survey designed to cover six aspects of academic working life

  3. ASSET 2016 Method 43 institutions across the UK N = 4869 respondents (2374 women) Weighted sample by gender, ethnicity and academic field to ensure representativeness Variety of statistical approaches • eg ANOVAs, logistic regression

  4. ASSET 2016 Results Similar results as those from 2003: From recruitment to promotion, female STEMM academics were more likely to perceive, experience or be exposed to some form of disadvantage compared with their male colleagues Clustered around three themes: • Teaching and administrative duties • Feeling supported and valued • Caring responsibilities

  5. Teaching and administrative duties • Factors impacting average academic career: POSITIVE: • Well-regarded research projects • Successful grant applications • Substantial research output NEGATIVE: • Having a heavy administrative load • Having a heavy teaching load • Taking a career break

  6. Teaching and administrative duties ‘Allocation of teaching activities is disproportionately towards women carrying the burden, but this is [an] advantage for men.’ Female, planetary and space science • Women spend more time on teaching, but this is not as valued by their department as research

  7. Teaching and administrative duties • Disjoint between perceived advantage in the allocation of teaching and administrative duties

  8. Feeling supported and valued * * * * * * * *

  9. Feeling supported and valued • 59.7% of men were encouraged or invited to apply for promotion, compared with 48.8% of women • 7.4% of women said that they wanted to stay in STEMM but outside higher education, compared with 5.4% of men

  10. Caring responsibilities • Negative impact of having a family remarked upon by both genders ‘I think once women have children, they have far less flexibility with their time (compared to men). For instance, meetings, events and conferences outside of the workplace have to be arranged with childcare in mind.’ Female, social engineering • Disadvantages specific to women who had taken parental leave

  11. ASSET 2016 Intersections

  12. BME women are exposed to compounded disadvantage

  13. Advantages of being a man are not unconditional

  14. Disability is uniformly associated with disadvantage

  15. Gender gaps are age-dependent Majority of gender differences absent among respondents 30 and under. Suggests that gender differences accrue across the academic career.

  16. Recommendations Ensure academic contracts accommodate flexible working policies Establish workload allocation models that balance teaching and administrative duties Have options like keeping-in-touch days and flexible hours to help staff return from parental leave Reduce variability in amount and type of support provided by line managers Expand promotion criteria to include performance in other academic areas

  17. Thank you! Useful Publications & References Equality Challenge Unit (2017). ASSET 2016: biosciences and medicine, engineering and physical sciences. Equality Challenge Unit (2017). Equality in higher education: staff statistical report 2017. Equality Challenge Unit (2017). ASSET 2016: experiences surrounding gender equality in STEMM academia and the intersections with ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability and age. Higher Education Funding Council for England (2017). Call for evidence for identifying sector-leading innovative practice in advancing equality and diversity. Contact details: Amanda Aldercotte Acting Research Manager, Equality Challenge Unit amanda.aldercotte@ecu.ac.uk @ECUAmanda

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